Help - Android Head Unit Overheating

[jim010]

Hello,

I bought an Android double din head unit. It is a 8 core 8 GB RAM 128 GB ROM LTE from Aliexpress. Everything works in the Android head unit I bought, but I did have to figure out the wiring situation on my own. Problem I am having is that the back of the unit heats up very quickly within a minute or 2 (area circled in red) even if the unit is turned off. It heats up to the point that it is almost hot enough to burn skin (At least that is what it feels like). I know it is a heat sink, but why soo hot? And if it is an amplifier, why is it so hot so quick when there are no speakers wired up?

It is not the speakers or anything else, as I only have the 16 pin ISO power plug connected - nothing else. So I have it narrowed down to that plug at least. But I still can't figure out why it is heating up like that. I unpinned everything in the power plug except for the ground, ACC and the battery+ and it still really heats up right away. My wiring seems ok. Hoping someone on here can tell me what I am doing wrong?

The part that gets really hot is right above the power plug on the right. The rest of the back is nice and cool. Just that one part.

Here is how I wired it:

8 pin power plug (A) to Android ISO 16 pin power plug
pin 8 to pin 1
pin 7 to pin 3
pin 6 to pin 4
pin 5 to pin 8 (I disconnected this to see if it was my problem, but nope)
pin 4 to pin 2
pin 3 not used
pin 2 not used
pin 1 to pin 5 (for reversing camera - works)

Suggestions? This getting really hot thing is concerning.

Click to read more...

 

[spokey9]

It sounds like something ain't right with the unit itself...maybe try contacting the seller but I'm not sure what they'd do

 

[jim010]

I did. They said this:

It is normal for these units to be a little hot. Many of our units have passed the heat test. After we usually make a radio, there will be an aging test, and it will be sent out after 48 hours of continuous power supply in the workshop to ensure that it can be used normally, so don’t worry about the heating problem of the host, this is a normal phenomenon

 

[spokey9]

It sounds like something ain't right with the unit itself

I did. They said this:

It is normal for these units to be a little hot. Many of our units have passed the heat test. After we usually make a radio, there will be an aging test, and it will be sent out after 48 hours of continuous power supply in the workshop to ensure that it can be used normally, so don’t worry about the heating problem of the host, this is a normal phenomenon

Sounds like they're blowing you off...I'd ask for a refund and go another route...I've heard a lot off good stuff about this one and it's fairly easy on the wallet

Amazon product ASIN B0B3X3C7RD

 

[jim010]

I don't want to give up just yet. Does my wiring look correct?

 

[HardofWhoring]

You didn't link the product, so no way for us to know what the wattage is or try to tell what could be causing that internally.


I don't think I've said this to anyone, but you bought this off aliexpress. You bought it from the only place with cheaper crap than Amazon. What are you expecting?
Do I sound like a snob, when you bought the cheapest thing you could possibly find, and it doesn't work as great as the name brand stuff that spends money on R&D?

 

[HardofWhoring]

Can't really see anything about your wiring. Is that the power wire that has two orange wires spliced together, and the ground, that has two blue wires spliced together?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Android head unit...from Aliexpress.

Not to Monday morning quarterback, but these things have been notorious for mystifying bugs, poor performance, arriving DOA, and premature failure since they first started selling that sort of thing. What's worse is that the seller probably has no idea how anything works, cannot or will not help you troubleshoot, and if those companies employ anybody who speaks English whatsoever it's likely not the people who even half understand how to go about diagnosing problems. There may be a forum of Android nerds where people have bought these things and can figure out how to make them work or troubleshoot, but the general consensus on audio forums is that the veterans read a hundred posts like yours and just don't buy stuff that every thread about is a complaint.

You bought it from the only place with cheaper crap than Amazon

To be fair, a lot of those off-brand Android head units come in at around the cost of a lower high-end Alpine or Kenwood. I suspect a lot of the people buying these just like the Android OS and have big dreams about the flexibility of such a device working properly and ease of integration with other devices using an operating system with which they are comfortable.

I really want this to be a thing myself, but I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole until someone reputable (Sony/Alpine/Kenwood, etc.) throws some R&D into making them reliable and with known quality DAC and pre-amp AND until I can buy local or from an outfit like Crutchfield who will be able to help me out if issues arise.

 

[jim010]

Understood. I just want to make sure that everything on my end was done correctly and that I didn't miss anything, or that these things just run hot.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Understood. I just want to make sure that everything on my end was done correctly and that I didn't miss anything, or that these things just run hot.

Really hard to tell, but installing a head unit isn't rocket science and there's really nothing you could do wrong that would make it overheat. Sadly I'd chalk this up to dubious quality equipment and not user/installation error.

Are you sure the heat is from an audio amplifier and not the CPU? My gut tells me these are all Frankenstein'd together from whatever random tablet parts by people who really don't understand how a tablet or a head unit is supposed to function.

Anyway, the whole thing seems really sketchy and you probably don't want anything like that mounted in your vehicle.

 

[HardofWhoring]

Not to Monday morning quarterback, but these things have been notorious for mystifying bugs, poor performance, arriving DOA, and premature failure since they first started selling that sort of thing. What's worse is that the seller probably has no idea how anything works, cannot or will not help you troubleshoot, and if those companies employ anybody who speaks English whatsoever it's likely not the people who even half understand how to go about diagnosing problems. There may be a forum of Android nerds where people have bought these things and can figure out how to make them work or troubleshoot, but the general consensus on audio forums is that the veterans read a hundred posts like yours and just don't buy stuff that every thread about is a complaint.

To be fair, a lot of those off-brand Android head units come in at around the cost of a lower high-end Alpine or Kenwood. I suspect a lot of the people buying these just like the Android OS and have big dreams about the flexibility of such a device working properly and ease of integration with other devices using an operating system with which they are comfortable.

I really want this to be a thing myself, but I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole until someone reputable (Sony/Alpine/Kenwood, etc.) throws some R&D into making them reliable and with known quality DAC and pre-amp AND until I can buy local or from an outfit like Crutchfield who will be able to help me out if issues arise.

Well, FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, Some of that stuff is 10% of the cost of an equivalent name brand, and still looks overpriced. Amazon has high quality name brand stuff, and they have the cheapest child labor factory, made from cheap plastic, chinese crap there is. Ali express/ali baba has three-legged radioactive dogs, assembling in dirt holes, from the leftover recycling in Tajikastan kind of junk.

Really hard to tell, but installing a head unit isn't rocket science and there's really nothing you could do wrong that would make it overheat. Sadly I'd chalk this up to dubious quality equipment and not user/installation error.

Are you sure the heat is from an audio amplifier and not the CPU? My gut tells me these are all Frankenstein'd together from whatever random tablet parts by people who really don't understand how a tablet or a head unit is supposed to function.

Anyway, the whole thing seems really sketchy and you probably don't want anything like that mounted in your vehicle.

That's a good thing to clarify. I didn't think it was an install error either. I don't think the OP did anything wrong with the install, just bought wrong.

 

[jim010]

I don't believe it is the internal amplifier, as it should not heat up if I didn't hook up the speakers, correct? The CPU is an 8 core, so it is high capacity.

After you mentioned the CPU, I looked it up:

What is normal temp for core processor?


Generally, anything between 40–65°C (or 104–149°F) is considered a safe heat range for a normal workload. While running more intensive apps or games, the normal CPU temp range can increase to between 70–80°C (158–176°F). The rule of thumb is, a bad CPU temp is 80-85°C (176–185°F) or above.

Any Android specialists on here?

 

[HardofWhoring]

If you turn the volume up then it's going to do the same thing with or without speakers. It's still "working".

The cpu is an 8 core. ?? That means it can handle 8 processes simultaneously. Why would a head unit need to do that?

The problem I see is how compact the design is. I see a couple other ones that small, and they have fans on the back, (I'm assuming for the cpu).

Turning the head unit on for 48 hours, doesn't mean pushing the processor and making it generate its max amount of heat for 48 hours.

 

[jim010]

Gothcha. So I need to determine if it is an internal AMP or the processor. How do I do that?

 

[spokey9]

Gothcha. So I need to determine if it is an internal AMP or the processor. How do I do that?

You won't be able to replace either...